Fibromyalgia

Leading Edge Medical

Chiropractors located in Gilbert, AZ

The National Fibromyalgia Association estimates that up to 10% of women, men, and children in the United States suffer chronic pain in their bones and muscles due to fibromyalgia. The doctors at Leading Edge Medical in Gilbert, Arizona, ease the symptoms of fibromyalgia with therapies that train your body to heal itself. If you have fibromyalgia and live in the Gilbert area, book an appointment at Leading Edge Medical online or by calling the friendly staff.

Fibromyalgia Q & A

What is fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a chronic-pain disorder in which you feel diffuse and sometimes excruciating pain throughout your musculoskeletal system. Some researchers believe that your central nervous system may amplify or distort pain sensations. Common symptoms are:

Overall tenderness, pain, or achy feeling

Tight, twitching, or burning muscles

Low pain threshold

Fatigue

Brain fog

Anxiety, worry, or depression

Insomnia

The pain affects both your upper and lower body. To be diagnosed with fibromyalgia, your pain must have lasted for at least three months.

What causes fibromyalgia?

Researchers aren’t yet sure what causes fibromyalgia. Until recently, many doctors and laypeople dismissed fibromyalgia as a form of hypochondria because symptoms are so diffuse and the majority of sufferers are women.

Some risk factors for fibromyalgia include:

Being female

Having arthritis, lupus, or another autoimmune disorder

Having an infection

Experiencing physical or emotional trauma

Having a family member with fibromyalgia

Living in stressful conditions

Is fibromyalgia serious?

Though fibromyalgia itself is not life-threatening, the distraction of constant pain and fatigue may interfere with your ability to enjoy your life and perform daily tasks. If you have fibromyalgia, you’re also more likely to have other conditions, such as:

Migraines

Headaches

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Interstitial cystitis

Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ)

Anxiety or depression

What are my treatment options for fibromyalgia?

Medical treatments for fibromyalgia

Medical treatment for fibromyalgia may include DyAnsys® percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS) to relax your nervous system and relieve sensations of pain.

The DyAnsys device stimulates points in your ear, much like acupuncture does. The stimulation encourages your nerves to stop sending pain signals, so you get relief without side effects.

Your doctor may also massage your fascia and other tissues to increase oxygenation and the circulation of blood and lymph fluids. Leading Edge medical professionals advocate lifestyle changes — including exercises such as yoga or tai chi and a non-inflammatory diet — to control fibromyalgia pain. You can also have rehab therapy and at-home exercises to strengthen your body.

While you're healing, your doctor may prescribe short-term medications to control your pain. Some drugs that the FDA has cleared for fibromyalgia include the antidepressants duloxetine and milnacipran as well as the anti-seizure medication pregabalin.

Chiropractic treatments for fibromyalgia

Chiropractic treatment for fibromyalgia focuses on increasing your body’s overall functionality and health so that it can attain its usual state of self-healing. Chiropractors believe that all of the body’s organs and systems are interrelated. Your doctor, therefore, corrects any spinal misalignments you have with chiropractic manipulation.